Jane Winik Sartwell/Carolina Public Press Less than 1% of people affected by Tropical Storm Helene in Western North Carolina had flood insurance. That means that most of the personal property and business property losses incurred as a result of the costliest disaster in North Carolina history will not be reimbursed...

WRAL News It’s a project that was first identified in 2003 – the lack of a Wake County park facility in the eastern portion of the county. Now 20 years later, commissioners took a major step in the creation of Lake Myra County Park in Wendell. On Monday, Wake County...

Keaton Eberly/CBS 17 News As local governments face ongoing challenges such as high inflation and rising crime rates, a pair of cities in the Triangle is being viewed as having two of the most effective leadership teams in the country. WalletHub released its report on the “Best & Worst-Run Cities...

April Laissle/WFDD Radio Alamance County Commissioners have approved next year’s budget, which includes a property tax increase aimed in part at supporting local schools. The tax hike was a central point of debate during Monday’s hours-long meeting. Several community members spoke during the public comment period, urging commissioners to avoid...

Morgan Casey/CityView Cumberland County and the City of Fayetteville are expected to receive millions of dollars from the national opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma and the company’s owners, the Sackler family. N.C. Attorney General Jeff Jackson was among the 55 attorneys general who signed on to the $7.4 billion settlement,...

Lilly Knoepp/Blue Ridge Public Radio Western Carolina University announced Friday that its Office of Intercultural Affairs (ICA) is closed “effective immediately.” A statement from Chancellor Kelli Brown explained that the decision was a “restructuring of student support services to better align with the UNC System Policy on Equality.” The Office...

Brighton McConnell/WCHL Chapelboro U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. announced one week ago he would shake up one of the key volunteer groups that advises the Centers for Disease Control and federal government on how to use vaccines. All 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization...

Michelle Crouch/NC Health News & Charlotte Ledger When Christy Owca’s 17-year-old son flipped his Jeep in a crash in 2019, she was grateful that an ambulance got him to the hospital quickly and that his injuries turned out to be minor. So when the first bill from Gaston County’s ambulance...

Lucas Thomae/Carolina Public Press More than three months after McDowell County placed its Department of Social Services director on leave, officials have kept quiet about upheaval inside the office responsible for child welfare and a range of other public services. A letter obtained by Carolina Public Press revealed that McDowell...

Will Doran/WRAL News A bill to shift wide-ranging regulatory powers from North Carolina’s governor and other executive branch leaders to state lawmakers is advancing in the legislature, with a final vote expected in the coming days. House Bill 402 seeks to block executive-branch agencies from passing almost any new rules...

Theresa Opeka/The Carolina Journal As North Carolina House chairman of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, has requested records from UNC-Chapel Hill regarding Dr. Ralph Baric and his work related to COVID-19. In a June 13 letter obtained by Carolina Journal through the speaker’s...

Elena Marsh/The (Southern Pines) Pilot A building moratorium that Taylortown implemented earlier this year to give itself time to cope with unexpected development requests could be overturned by pending state legislation. State Sen. Tom McInnis, whose district includes Moore County, requested the insertion of a clause in a bill before...

Jordan Valinsky/CNN At Home, a popular home goods retailer with 260 stores across 40 US states, has filed for bankruptcy, citing the backdrop of tariff increases and a slowdown in consumer spending. The Dallas-based company announced Monday that it had entered an agreement with its lenders that “will eliminate substantially...

Trista Talton/Coastal Review Online When Gigi Donovan looks at the dune fronting a row of largely undeveloped oceanfront lots across the street from her home, she sees a false sense of security. “We’ve seen this dune go away three times in 12 years,” she said. The sandy mound that separates...

Gerard Albert III/Blue Ridge Public Radio Henderson County recently passed its $215 million budget for next fiscal year – after Hurricane Helene damaged properties, interrupted tourism and left behind massive amounts of debris. Clearing debris from the storm is costing Henderson County millions of dollars and the county has used...